Harry Potter and the Elemental Guardian
by wolfey141
Summary: AU. What would happen if Harry ran away when he was six? What would happen if he knew how to use magic then? What would happen if when Voldemort came back Harry Potter was ready for him? slight avatar: the last airbender crossover.
1. prison breakout

A six year old Harry Potter was laying on his back on his little cot in the cupboard under the stairs. He hated having to lay on his back but if he moved to much to his left or right it jostled his broken ribs causing waves of pain to flow throughout his entire body. His ribs were payback from his uncle for me a freak. Little Harry wasnt sure how those things happened around him they just did. Harry knew that this beating was just a prelude to what was to come. He was terrified that since his "pre- beating" as his whale of a cousin called them, were so bad that the actual beating would truly kill him.

A sudden thought flew through Harry's head that he had never tried before. He knew he had to escape and get away from the Dursleys but he couldnt escape his locked cupboard. His thought was that if he couldn't stop his "freakishness" why not try to encourage it to help him escape.

As he sat there thinking over all the times his abilities had come in to play he quickly discovered that they happened to help him and that when his emotions were out of control. They always did what he seemed to want to whether it be to escape from His cousin Dudley's gang or to humiliate someone in retaliation.

Little Harry Quickly came up with a plan to use his abilities to escape. First he thought that he had to be able to move without blacking out so harry called all his emotions to the forefront of his mind and focused them inward towards where the pain seem to generate from. There was a muffled crack and a few seconds of absolute agony for Harry before there was nothing. The pain seemed to be gone! Harry sat up caustiously and twisted his torso from left to right to test for any pain. When none came he almmost cried in joy, He finally had away out of his own personal hell!

Harry quickly got up and focused his emotions at the lock on the door while willing it to open. With a soft click, the lock popped open. Harry let out a little squeal of joy before covering his mouth with his hands and listening for any sign that his relatives had heard it. When all he heard was a grunt and the creaking of bedsprings that signified they were still asleep he quickly and quietly crept out of the cupboard and towards the front door.

Harry quickly unlocked the door and crept outside. He continued slowly through the yard before he hit the road. There his sped up to a full sprint while letting out a whopp of joy, he was free at last!

After running three two blocks Harry slowed down to a walk. The elated feeling of escaping was leaving leaving a void that was filling fast with worry. Now that he was out what was he supposed to do. Where could he go. Harry quickly answered the what to do question by himself. He had to train his new found abilities. He had heard how horrible the world was from the little television he had seen between chores. If they helped his escape the surely could protect him also.

First Harry had to find somewhere to stay. With that thought young Harry Potter Set off walking with the hopes of finding a place to stay or his dream, a family to take him in. Two days of almost non stop walking and Harry was ready to give up. He hadn't seen another person for two days that was remotely friendly. Every person he had met had looked at him as some sort of criminal. Their eyes portraying there disgust at him, how dirty he was. Little harry felt like crying for his mom. He never felt this unwanted even at the Dursleys.

He was now walking through a forest that had lined the edge of a small town. He had heard rumors that creatures of all kinds were protected in this forest nd he was hoping that it would protect him until he could use his abilities better. He was so weak from hunger and thirst though he didnt think he would be able to do anything. He had refused to steal from anyone on his journey. Inhis mind it wasnt what his parents would have wanted of him.

As his hunger hit a particularly painful cord in his stomach, he tripped and fell over a tree root in the ground. As he slowly pulled himself up from the ground Harry heard growling coming from the bushes to his right. He looked the quickly scooted away from the bushes as a grey wolf crawled out of them. The wolf was five feet high and was salivating at the mouth. Harry, not being that dumb, could see that the wolf was going to eat him. Before he could even try using his fear for his abilities a vine whipped down from the treetops and wrapped around the wolfs midsection. There was a moments pause before the vine jerked and and unraveled sending the wolf crashing through the trees and out of sight.

The vine curled back up in to the treetops leaving Harry alone again to calm his heart. But before he could do that a creature jumped out of the trees and landed three feet in font of him. It looked at him with sparkling sky blue eyes and startewd to move towards Harry.


	2. a new friend

As the creature stepped out of the shadows that the trees cast upon the forest floor Harry could see that the creature was in all actuality a boy. The boy had sky blue eyes and light brown almost grey hair. Harry assumed that he was tall almost five' 3". As the boy came closer Harry took notice of his unusual clothes. He was wearing A light blue that matched his eyes and seemed to be molded against his skin. He had on black shorts down to his knees that had flames on the very bottom edges. Finally the boy stopped in front of Harry and just stared at him, Harry got the wierd sensation that the boy was looking through him and was judging him.

Then the boy bent down so he was eye level to where Harry had fallen and spoke. "Hey, name's Damien How's it going," The easiness which Damien talked to him startled Harry. He wasn't used to people actually being _nice _to him. Seeing the sincereity behind Damien's eyes He thought that he could atleast answer the question honestly.

"I am kinda hungry, and tired too," Harry piped up quietly then hid his face, unsure of the reaction that his proclamation would be. He heard quiet chuckling before he was hauled to his feet roughly.

"'Course you are! You looked like someone just pulled you out of a dung heap!" Damien Exclaimed with another short bark of laughter. Harry quickly looked himself over and realized that it was true, he looked an absolute mess. He laughed quietly to himself then looked up in to Sparkling eyes of his new friend. Damien motioned him to follow him. "Follow me! I can have you fixed up in a jiffy. But while we walk we can talk. First whats your name?"

"Harry."

"Well Harry, I will get you cleaned up and sent back to your family in know time," Damien said without looking at Harry who had paled at the words 'sent back to your family'.

Damien, not paying attention to how his companion looked continued to babble away until he noticed Harry had stopped a few feet behind him and was visibly shaking from eat to toe in fear. "Harry whats wrong what happened!" Damien shouted at him, concern etched in to his brow. Harry slowly turned towards him and and looked at him with such fear in his eyes it scared him.

"Please don't send me back there." Harry whispered.

Damien didn't know what his family did to him but whatever it was, judging by Harry's reaction, it wasn't good. He may not have known Harry for more than a few minutes but he vowed that whatever had happened to Harry, he would make sure it didn't happen again.

"I won't send you back there if you don't want to go." Damien said while rubbing Harry's back to try to calm him, " You can stay with me if you want."

"Won't your parents be mad that your inviting people home to live with you without there consent," Harry asked in worry. Damien looked down in trying to reign in the pain he felt everytime any mention of his family was brought up.

"My parents died Two years ago."

"Oh." Harry felt bad about bringin up such a painful memory and was goin to apologize when Damien looked up and nodded his head that they should get going. They waled for a couple more minutes before Damien held out his arm to stop Harry.

"Why are we stopping here for," Harry asked, "I thought we were going to your house?" Damien just grinned and pointed upwards. Harry looked at him in confusion before looking upwards and gasping.


	3. the tree fort

What Harry saw from up in the trees shocked him to the very core.There were huts in the trees! not small huts either; but big huts, huts the size of a normal sized room. There must have been twenty or so of the brown thatched roof huts, each in there own seperate trees. All the huts were interconnected witth wooden walways with the same material of the hut roofs flowing over then. Since it was nearly night out Harry could see little light in the trees and around the walkways. They looked like the fairy light he had seen in the store he had been forced to go to by his aunt and uncle. What amazed Harry the most though was the way that the huts looked. The branches seem to curl around and into the huts, not once breaking. It looked like the Huts and walkways had grown with the trees.

Harry was in awe. He had never seen anything so amazing nor beautiful before. it looked like its own little community. Damien was watching the emotions play across Harry's face and couldnt help chuckling a bit. When Harry turned the same slack-jawed expression towards him, Damien ciouldnt hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. He fell to his knees, holding his stomach because it was startingf to hurt. He couldn't get the image of Harry's face from his head. Finally Damien slowly calmed down and stood up while wiping the tears from his eyes to come face to face with a slightly irritated person. Damien tried to apologize to his friend while trying to stop the accasional chuckle to slip through. "Sorry Harry but your face was priceless."

Harry was realized that how he looked and probably acted might have seemed funny so he cracked a little smile while nodding. Then he looked up again in awe. He was able to control it this time so he didn't look like an idiot. Damien clapped him on his back and motioned towards a treed that seemed to have grown with groves in it that greatly resembled stairs. Damien beckoned him to follow and started up the tree stairs.

When they reached the tops of the trees Damien swung his arms wide and exclaimed loudly, "Welcome to the tree fort." Harry looked around in awe. it was amazing, it was every kids dream. "Come on let me give you a tour." Damien said while walking towards the entrance off the platau they were were on and into a hut.

As they entered the hut Damien stopped and wave his arms to encompass the entire room. "This is the living room, or the sitting room if you prefer. I got all your at home appliances like t.v. and a vcr, and comforts like chairs and couches." Harry stares at the electrical appliances in the room, wondering how they were working. He knew that they worked and weren't just there for it to look like a home. The television was currently playing a show about a bunch of cops.

As Harry comtemplated how everything was working with know outlets in sight, Damien had been pointing out things in the room and explaining what they were or how he had come across them. Harry was startled out of his contemplation when Damien yelled back from the next hut, where he had just noticed that Harry hadn't followed him, to not dawdle.

As Damien led Harry from hut to hut, Harry's confusion grew bigger and bigger. He just couldn't figure out how all of the things that needed electricity were running. At first he thought that the appliances were directly in front of the outlets. But, he soon realized that wasn't the case when he had looked behind the stereo in the hut that Damien called the recroom. There wasn't anything behind the stereo at all but a bare patch of wall.

Finally the duo stopped in the final hut, which seemed to be a dinning room/kitchen area. Damien quickley prepared the both of them some hot chocolate and sat down at the table in the center of the hut. They sat in an uncomfortable silence with Damien slowly drinkin his hot chocolate and Harry fidgeting in his seat with his mind nearly bursting with questions.

Damien slowly put down his cup and looked up to meet Harry and the eyes. "Go ahead, ask I know you have some questions. I will answer them if I can."

"How is everything running! I didnt see anything that could make it run! No electricity, no generator thing I heard my uncle talk about, how is it all runnging?" Harry burst out while leaning forward. Damien chuckled softly to himself.

"Thats a very intersting question with an equally interesting answer." Damien spoke softly. When he paused and seemed to be thing about it, Harrys impatience got the best of him, "Well?"

Damien looked directly in Harry's eyes and only spoke one word. "Magic."


	4. explanations pt 1

"What are you talking about? Magic doesn't exist." Harry said incrediously.

Damien just chuckled softly to himself. He couldn't believe that the wizards very own Boy-Who-Lived refused to even acknowledge his own heritage, it was truly ironic. "Magic does exist. There are witches and wizards out there. A hidden world undermneath the normal world. Hidden by Illusions and charms. A world that you are supposed to be a part of. "

Harry looked at Damien is shock. He was finding it extremely hard to wrap his mind around the concept of magic. His Aunt and Uncle had been extremely clear on there ciews on magic. If he even questioned there views would warrant a three day stay in the cupboard under the stairs. But as he thought over all the times his Uncle had ranted about magic, it had been after unexpalinable things happened. Despite his wishes, Harry found himself marginally excepting the idea of magic, after remembering all the things that happened around him that couldn't be explained. "So I am a ...a wizard?" Harry asked cautiously. Damien nodded slightly at him, with a smile playing at the corner of his lips. "And your a wizard too?"

Here Damien couldn't help himself, he let out a loud blast of laughter. "Me? A wizard? I dont't think so. I am actually what's called a Bender."

"A Bender? What's a Bender?" Harry asked.

Damien Sat back and looked skyward as he pondered his answer. Seemingly deciding what he was going to say, Damien leaned forward again and stared in to Harry's eyes, "What you have to understand Harry is that Wizards aren't the only Magic race on this planet. There are werewolves and vampires. There used to be Dwarves and Elves. Up until 2000 years ago there was a race known as the benders. The Bender's abilities were that they could bend the four elements to there wills. The four elements being water, fire, wind, and earth. There were four nations within the Bender race. There was the fire nation, the earth kingdom, the water tribes, and the air temples. Each, "Sector I guess, was ruled by four different lords. But those four lords answered to the leader of the entire race. A man called the Avatar." Damien sat back slowly, watching harry take in this new diluge of information. Harry himself was looking wide eyed at Damien trying to sort through all the new information.

"So your a bender?" Harry queried. At Damien's nod, he continued," But you said Up to 2000 years ago. That means there all gone doesn't it?"

Damien shook his head slowly with a sad look on his face. "No Harry, There not all gone. They hid themselves though. Cut all ties from the outside world. Even with eachother. Instead of one great race there are four fractured Nations."

"But what happened that cause the four way split?"

"2100 years ago the fire nation started a war against the other three great nations. Usually when a nation tries something like that the avatar stops the offending nation, point blank. But the next avatar, a kid named Ang disapeared 6 months before. So the war raged 100 years. When it looked like the fire Nation was set to win the war, Avatar Ang showed up again. He managed to stop the war. But it was too late, to much damage had been done. The Bender race split in to four factiond and disapeared."

Harry's eyes, if possible, got even wider. " If they disapeared so long ago, how do you know all this. I mean, ya your a bender, but how do you know all this, and are here alone, instead of with one of the factions."

Damien sighed, looking at the floor, "I know this because I am the next Avatar." Damien held up his hand to forstall any questions. "See the Avatar isn't an inherited position. It does not go from father to son. Its all based on reincarnation. When one avatar dies, another avatar is born. Thats why I seem so grown up. I have 5000 years of bender history and knowledge in my head. Plus until I am sixteen I will have flashes of memories too."

Harry was practically bouncing in his seat with his pent up questions. Finally not being able to take it anymore, he burst out, " So your the next avatar? What do you mean by flashes of memory? And why until your sixteen?"

Damien grinned slightly and answered, "Yes I am the next avatar. I sometimes get flashes of memory from previous avatars lives. And it will all go away when I go through a process known as the threshold. I will explain before you ask. Threshold is when I will drop in to a two day coma and assimilate, or absorb, all the bending tecniques and knowledge from the previous avatars. In the process I will lose there memories."

Damien's smile widened when he saw the dumbfounded expression on Harry's face. "Ok thats enough information for today. I will show you to your room I guess and tomorrow I will explain who you are." Damien got up from where he was sitting and walked out of the hut they were in and along a bridge to another slightly smaller hut. "This is where you will be sleeping. Its just a spare room I couldn't decide what to use it for."

Having followed Damine in to the room, Harry looked around the room in awe. The room to a normal person looked plain as day. But to Harry it looked like a mansion. He was in paradis. In the hut lay a frame board and a small chaird that seemed to have grown right out of the floor. There was also a desk growing out of the wall. Sitting on the Bed Harry couldn't believe house soft it was. Looking up at Damien inquisitively, Damien answered before he could ask. "Its so soft because the bed its self is stuffed with downy feathers donated by the wilderness birds. The Blanket is made of fused moss. Now go to sleep, you look tired and we have a busy day tomorrow with more explanations." With a nod at Harry Damien left the "bedroom" hut. Harry laid back and smiled as he closed his eyes, maybe this wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.


End file.
